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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27678940">intro to grief counselling: blanket forts, temporary municipalities, and you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/readandwritesilver/pseuds/readandwritesilver'>readandwritesilver</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Community episode rewrites [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Community (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(minor) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode Related, Episode: s02e09 Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design, Fluff, Getting Together, Grief/Mourning, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Pillow &amp; Blanket Forts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:42:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,918</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27678940</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/readandwritesilver/pseuds/readandwritesilver</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Blanket forts aren't just for when uncles die. (this isn't one of those times.)</p><p>or, Abed helps distract Troy from a loss.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Community episode rewrites [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1772773</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>158</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>intro to grief counselling: blanket forts, temporary municipalities, and you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is based on <a href="https://readandwritesilver.tumblr.com/post/633829576728100864/oysters-aint-for-me-oh-my-god-bro-hhang-on">this</a> post, which i saw a couple weeks ago and was immediately inspired by.</p><p>Minor TW for grief/death. again it's pretty minor and the fic is reasonably lighthearted but. its there.</p><p>enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Troy stretches his arms as he stands up from the couch, yawning.</p><p>“I’m gonna get home,” he says.</p><p>“Alright,” Abed says. “Are you staying here tomorrow?”</p><p>Troy nods. “Totally. Your dorm is way better than Pierce’s place. Have I told you about the troll?”</p><p>“Several times, yes.”</p><p>“Sorry.”</p><p>“You don’t have to apologize.”</p><p>Troy opens his mouth to say sorry again, but snaps it shut and nods again. His phone rings.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello?”</p><p>“Hello? Troy?”</p><p>“Mom?”</p><p>“Troy, I need to tell you something,” she says, voice serious. </p><p>“What is it? Are you alright?”</p><p>Abed gives Troy a concerned look, and Troy sits back down next to him.</p><p>“Troy, it’s your uncle carl.”</p><p>“Uncle carl? Mom, what’s going on?”</p><p>“He was driving home a few hours ago, it was dark, and he-” she pauses to take a shaky breath, and Troy realizes she’s crying. His heart drops as his mother sobs “he swerved off the road, they don’t know what happened.” </p><p>A pause, before-</p><p>“He’s dead, Troy.”</p><p> </p><p>Troy's mother sobs again, and Troy's brain just shuts down. He sits in silence for a moment as his mother collects herself, and Abed watches him, worried.</p><p>“Troy, I have to go,” she says, “I need to talk to Lindsay. Poor thing.”</p><p>“Um,” Troy takes a deep, shuddering breath “alright, mom. I love you.”</p><p>“I love you too, Troy. I’ll call you tomorrow morning.”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>They say goodbye, and hang up the phone. Troy turns to Abed.</p><p> </p><p>“How much of that did you hear?”</p><p>“Most of it. Do you want a hug?”</p><p>Troy nods and leans into Abed’s chest, as Abed wraps his arms around him. They sit there for a moment, and Abed says nothing when Troy starts to cry. He just rubs circles on Troy's back and lets him be.</p><p> </p><p>Some time later, Troy sits up, rubbing his face.</p><p>“Can I stay here tonight?”</p><p>“You’re not going to your mom’s house?”</p><p>Troy shakes his head. “It’s a fifty-minute drive, and it’s late. I’ll go over there tomorrow. I just don't want to go back to Pierce’s right now.”</p><p>“Of course you can stay. Do you want something to sleep in?”</p><p>Troy nods, leaning back so Abed can stand and go over to his dresser, pulling out clothes for both himself and Troy.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Later, Troy lays on the bottom bunk, the lights shut out and the sound of Abed's gentle breathing above him. The top bunk creaks, and Troy takes a chance.</p><p>“Abed?”</p><p>“Yeah, Troy?”</p><p>“Could you… could you come down here?”</p><p>There’s silence for a moment, before Abed swings his legs down without warning and lands on the bed without touching the ground, sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed. Troy sits up to look at him properly in the glow of the moon and distantly registers that Abed is way more attractive than had ever occurred to Troy.</p><p>“Are we having a bunk bed conversation?” Abed asks, “I’ve always wanted to try one of those. But I think I’m supposed to be in the other bunk.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“A bunk bed conversation. I thought that’s why you wanted me to come down here.”</p><p>“Oh. No. I meant come down here and, er, stay down here? Like to… to sleep. Only if you want to.”</p><p> </p><p>Abed blinks, and Troy is about to take it back, but Abed just nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>“Okay?”</p><p>“I don’t mind sleeping down here with you if it will make you feel more comfortable.”</p><p>“Thanks,” Troy says, smiling. Abed shrugs, and Troy scooches over to make room for Abed, lifting the blanket.</p><p>Abed lies back, and Troy drops the blanket back down.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>The next few days are hell. Not that Troy had expected them to be fun, but still.</p><p> </p><p>As it turns out, funerals don’t just <em> happen </em>. There’s planning and organizing and lots of money. </p><p>Troy and his mother end up doing most of it, aunt Lindsay stepping in only when necessary.</p><p>“Aren’t people usually more involved in the funeral when their spouses die?” Abed asks him on Tuesday, as they walk to class.</p><p>“Abed!” Annie says, <em> tsk </em>-ing “she lost her husband! Don’t be rude.”</p><p>Troy just shrugs. “I thought that too. I think my mom is just trying to keep herself busy, though. So I’m letting her be”</p><p> </p><p>A week after the funeral, Troy stays at Abed's again. As they’re going to bed, Abed lingers before going up to the top bunk.</p><p>“You alright, buddy?” Troy asks, and Abed nods.</p><p>“I am. Goodnight, Troy,” he says, clambering up to the top bunk.</p><p>“Wait. Abed?”</p><p>“What is it?” Abed asks, sticking his head back down.</p><p>“Could you- only if you want to -could you, uh, stay down here again? Like last week?”</p><p> </p><p>Troy makes out a smile forming on Abed's face as he nods, and drops back down to the floor. He climbs into bed with Troy, and they lay face-to-face. Troy is starting to drift off, but Abed speaks.</p><p>“I just had an awesome idea for something we could do tomorrow.”</p><p>Troy perks up. “Really? What is it?”</p><p>“We should turn my dorm into a blanket fort.”</p><p>Troy smiles.</p><p>“Abed, that’s an amazing idea. You’re a genius.”</p><p>They plan until Troy falls asleep, and the next morning they draw out a blueprint over mugs of Special Drink and pop-tarts cooked in a counterfeit toaster.</p><p> </p><p>Troy doesn’t realize until he sits down in his first class of the day, after saying goodbye to Abed, that the last twelve or so hours are the longest he's gone without thinking about uncle Carl in a week and a half.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>The fort ends up being much bigger than they had planned. First Pavel gets involved, then a few other people from the rest of the hallway, and by the end of it there are people there that Troy is pretty sure don’t even go to Greendale, let alone live in the dorms.</p><p>It’s awesome. But running an entire town, even if it’s made of blankets, turns out to be way more work than Troy had expected.</p><p> </p><p>Jeff and Annie pass briefly through the fort, hunting down some guy Troy doesn’t manage to catch the name of. They’re briefly held up by the Latvian Independence parade, and then they're gone.</p><p>“What were they doing, again?” Troy asks Abed, as they watch the pair go.</p><p>“B plot,” Abed says with a shrug, before shaking his head. “Well- no. we’re the B plot overall. But they’re the B plot to our A plot.”</p><p>Troy nods. “Right. Do you want to go play Uno with the french club? They call it <em> Un </em>.”</p><p>“They do?”</p><p>“No. but wouldn’t it be funny if they did?”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>The French club does not, in fact, call it <em> Un </em>. they also don’t seem to have played Uno ever in their lives.</p><p>“<em> Tabernac </em>,” Vicki hisses, as Troy and Abed hold up empty hands for the fourth time in a row. Even with five french club members playing against just the two of them, they’ve managed to win every single game.</p><p>“Another round, boys?” Neil asks, collecting everyone's cards and starting to shuffle them.</p><p>Troy looks to Abed, who nods just as Troy's phone buzzes.</p><p><b><em>annie :)</em></b><b>, 8:53pm:</b> jeff + i got food! Meet in the big open area near Abed’s dorm- crazy story to tell u guys.</p><p>Troy shows the text to Abed, who nods and turns to the French club.</p><p>"C'était amusant. On devrait le refaire une autre fois," He says.</p><p>“Oui, d'accord. Passe une bonne nuit!” Neil replies.</p><p>“Passe une bonne nuit!”</p><p>The French club smiles and waves to them as they leave.</p><p> </p><p>“Where did you learn French?” Troy asks, as they crawl away.</p><p>Abed shrugs (as well as someone can while crawling on their hands and knees). “Vicki helped Pavel and I build a robot companion for his parrot last year in exchange for her teaching us french as a project for her french class.”</p><p>“Wait- Pavel has a robot? And a parrot?”</p><p>“Of course,” Abed says, his tone of voice implying a <em> duh-doy </em>.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Later, as Troy straps his headlight on, gazing down at the picture of their fort on the front page of the Gazette, he wonders if all of this work was worth it if this is what it has to come to. They had planned operation omega from the start, well aware of where Fluffy Town could end up. Troy had just never thought they’d need to use it.</p><p>But there’s no time for sentimentality. They nod at each other, and the fort goes down.</p><p> </p><p>In the chaos that follows the fort’s collapse, Troy can’t help but feel mournful for what he’s lost. Even if he knows it had to be this way.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Later, they’re sitting on the couch of Abed’s mostly dark room, the select screen for <em> the goonies </em> casting shadows across their faces as Troy stretches.</p><p>“Do you want to go to bed?” Abed asks, and Troy stifles a yawn as he nods.</p><p>“Yeah, I’m beat. Thanks for today, by the way.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“For distracting me from my uncle,” Troy says, looking at Abed as he reaches over to take his hand, “I know that’s what you were doing. You’re an awesome best friend. I’m lucky to have you.”</p><p>“We’re lucky to have each other,” Abed says, not meeting Troy's eyes as he rubs his thumb along the side of Troy's hand. “It’s a two-way street.”</p><p>“Still. Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>Abed shrugs. “It wasn’t a big deal. I’ve been wanting to build a blanket fort with you for a while anyway. But you’re welcome.”</p><p> </p><p>Troy scoots forward, and then leans into Abed’s chest as Abed moves his arms to wrap them around Troy's back. Troy takes a deep breath, and Abed hooks his head over Troy's.</p><p>“I care about you a lot, Troy,” He says, and Troy pulls back so he can look up at him.</p><p>“I care about you too.”</p><p>Silence hangs over them, thick and heavy, as they continue to watch each other. Troy starts to think that describing Abed’s eyes as <em> gentle and mysterious </em> may have been an understatement.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you going to kiss me?” Abed asks.</p><p>Troy thinks he should probably jump back in shock at that, tell Abed that he’s not gay and ask <em> why </em>Abed would think that. But instead, he just asks-</p><p>“Can I?”</p><p>If watching Abed nod feels like an out of body experience, leaning up to press their lips together sends Troy three-quarters of the way to Neptune.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>“How was the rest of the sleepover, guys?” Britta asks them as they stroll into the library on Monday, not even registering their joined hands.</p><p>“It was good,” Abed says. “We built a cardboard submarine.”</p><p>“We called it the S.S. Trobed,” Troy says, as they both take their seats.</p><p>Pierce snorts. “Gay.”</p><p>“Thanks, Pierce,” says Abed, nonchalant as ever, “that’s what we were going for. All the making out we did in it definitely helped.”</p><p> </p><p>His words linger in the air for a few moments as the group processes the information, and then chaos erupts as they all react at once.</p><p> </p><p>Abed glances at Troy, his face conveying a mix of <em> that went well </em> and <em> this is far too much of a reaction, no matter how much we expected it </em>.</p><p>Troy ducks his head to hide a grin, and sees Abed start to smile as well.</p><p> </p><p><em> I did that </em> , Troy thinks, <em> I made him smile. </em></p><p> </p><p>The thought has occurred to him before, but it’s the first time Troy thinks it’s ever felt this right.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>come talk to me on <a href="https://readandwritesilver.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/HOMINGPIGE0N">Twitter</a> if you want</p><p>As always, any and all feedback is appreciated :)</p><p>Much love, Ben &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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